Overview
In this smooth, carefully paced course, leading Perl trainers and a Windows NT practitioner teach you to program in the language that promises to emerge as the scripting language of choice on NT. With a foreword by Larry Wall, the creator of Perl, this book is the "official" guide for both formal (classroom) and informal learning. Based on the "llama book," Learning Perl on Win32 Systems features tips for PC users and new NT-specific examples.
Perl for Win32 is a language for easily manipulating text, files, user and group profiles, performance and event logs, and registry entries, and a distribution is available on the Windows NT Resource Kit. Peer-to-peer technical support is now available on the perl.win32.users mailing list.
The contents include:
- An introduction to "the Perl way" for Windows users
- A quick tutorial stroll through Perl in one lesson
- Systematic, topic-by-topic coverage of Perl's broad capabilities
- Innumerable, brief code examples
- Programming exercises for each topic, with fully worked-out answers
- Access to NT system functions through Perl
- Database access with Perl
- CGI programming with Perl
Erik Olson is director of advanced technologies for Axiom Technologies, LC, where he specializes in providing Win32 development solutions. Randal L. Schwartz and Tom Christiansen have also written Programming Perl, co-authored with Larry Wall and published by O'Reilly & Associates.
Similar in concept and execution to the classic "llama" book on which it is based, this excellent Perl 5 tutorial is specific to the Win32 programming environment and Windows NT. This "gentle introduction to Perl" guides you through the syntax and structure of the language itself, clarifies scalar and list data concepts, then explains control structures, basic I/O, notion and use of functions and regular expressions. Walks you through file handles and tests, formats, hashes and additional topics. Discusses file, directory and database manipulation, process management, data transformation and sorting. Explains system information concepts, CGI programming and OLE automation issues. Exercises are available for downloading. This is a very good self-teaching tutorial or class text. The differences between this publication, henceforth to be known as the "gecko" book, and the llama book, known by its formal title as: Learning Perl, are due mostly to the environmental differences between UNIX and Windows NT. Either is very good and both are excellent introductory tutorials, the choice is yours. Read on, there is another new carnivore in the zoo, once you have finished with the "gecko," you can start on Advanced Perl Programming.
Synopsis
In this carefully paced course, leading Perl trainers and a Windows NT practitioner teach you to program in the language that promises to emerge as the scripting language of choice on NT. Based on the "llama" book, this book features tips for PC users and new NT-specific examples, along with a forward by Larry Wall, the creator of Perl.
ercb.com - Doug Nickerson
Perl is an interpreted language that features powerful (and cool-looking) expressions with generally more than one way to manipulate them. With Perl, you can put arrays on both sides of the equals sign, write terse regular expressions using built-in operators, and structure`data with built-in hashes (or associative lists). Perl is Basic meets C meets APL, with objects and an Algol block structure thrown in. Surely serious use of Perl may be hazardous to your health.
Unlike its sister book Programming Perl, Learning Perl on Win32 Systems, by Randal L. Schwartz, Erik Olson, and Tom Christiansen, presents little danger that you will be overwhelmed by Perl's embarrassment of riches.
Learning Perl on Win32 Systems covers the basics of Perl in O'Reilly's trademark well-organized approach, but how much of Win32 is covered? Until about Chapter 10, I was concerned that Win32 might have been added as an afterthought. (O'Reilly's Learning Perl, the ancestor of this book, also included Randal Schwartz as an author.)
Rather than a complete reference to using Perl with Win32, this is Perl with a Win32 slant. Navigating directories, removing files, and getting system status; all are covered with commentary about what you must do to get these to work in Win32.
And because of Perl's UNIX heritage, frequent reference is made to how UNIX and Windows are different. In Perl, calling native Win32 functions, and many other functionalities not supported in the immediate language, is accomplished via extensions. In this book, examples of using some Win32 functions are in the main text, but comprehensive detail about using Win32 extensions is placed in an appendix.
This approach is fine. Win32 need not play much of a role in learning language basics, and the goal is to learn Perl -- not conquer all of its vagaries.
The tutorial in Chapter One is well thought out and the book includes ample exercises (with exercise solutions in an appendix). Covering as it does the basics of the language and providing an orientation for those programming under Windows, Perl beginners will find this book an excellent introduction to Perl.
Editorials
Doug Nickerson
Perl is an interpreted language that features powerful (and cool-looking) expressions with generally more than one way to manipulate them. With Perl, you can put arrays on both sides of the equals sign, write terse regular expressions using built-in operators, and structure`data with built-in hashes (or associative lists). Perl is Basic meets C meets APL, with objects and an Algol block structure thrown in. Surely serious use of Perl may be hazardous to your health.Unlike its sister book Programming Perl, Learning Perl on Win32 Systems, by Randal L. Schwartz, Erik Olson, and Tom Christiansen, presents little danger that you will be overwhelmed by Perl's embarrassment of riches.
Learning Perl on Win32 Systems covers the basics of Perl in O'Reilly's trademark well-organized approach, but how much of Win32 is covered? Until about Chapter 10, I was concerned that Win32 might have been added as an afterthought. (O'Reilly's Learning Perl, the ancestor of this book, also included Randal Schwartz as an author.)
Rather than a complete reference to using Perl with Win32, this is Perl with a Win32 slant. Navigating directories, removing files, and getting system status; all are covered with commentary about what you must do to get these to work in Win32.
And because of Perl's UNIX heritage, frequent reference is made to how UNIX and Windows are different. In Perl, calling native Win32 functions, and many other functionalities not supported in the immediate language, is accomplished via extensions. In this book, examples of using some Win32 functions are in the main text, but comprehensive detail about using Win32 extensions is placed in an appendix.
This approach is fine. Win32 need not play much of a role in learning language basics, and the goal is to learn Perl -- not conquer all of its vagaries.
The tutorial in Chapter One is well thought out and the book includes ample exercises (with exercise solutions in an appendix). Covering as it does the basics of the language and providing an orientation for those programming under Windows, Perl beginners will find this book an excellent introduction to Perl.
— ercb.com